“No.” He paused to consider. “Not for that, anyway. She does work for them.”
Before Jean could ask about the family business, he was back to running himself down.
“It doesn’t really change the fact that I’m not good with people, like you. I bet you can talk to anyone.”
“Eh. It’s probably good there aren’t more people like me. For the fate of the world.” She worked a darker blue into the sky between his shoulder blades, shading it toward evening. “So what did you tell your friend? That you met a rude hotel employee who barged in on you naked and now she won’t leave you alone?”
“I said that I met someone interesting and smart and beautiful.”
Jean waited for the punchline, but apparently that really was how Charlie saw her. She could have joked about getting his prescription checked but found she didn’t mind having one person in the world who thought she was all that.
“And what did she say?”
“That I should run a background check.”
Jean barked a laugh.
“She thinks I’m too trusting,” Charlie confided.
“Well, she’s not wrong. We barely know each other and you’re letting me cover half your body in permanent ink. I hope you like My Little Ponies.”
“It’s permanent?”
“Got you.” She tickled the inside of his thigh. It was like takingcandy from a baby. Only notherbaby. In theooh-babysense. Obviously.
Either he wasn’t listening or didn’t find it funny, because his only response was a thoughtful silence.
“Is it about the ponies? Because I made that up too.” Taking hold of his calf, she wiggled his leg back and forth. “Still with me, Dakota?”
“You know how people say things that get stuck under your skin, and you can never get them out? It seeps into your veins, like venom.” He slid her a doubtful look. “That probably doesn’t happen to you.”
“I too have experienced human emotions,” she assured him. “Now, what is it?”
“Someone told me I was creepy for liking snakes. Because a normal person would be grossed out.”
She white-knuckled the paintbrush. Where did these basement dwellers get off trying to bring a unicorn like Charlie down to their level? Jean liked her people the same way she liked her paintings: full of unexpected twists. A hot science nerd with a tender oddball core, for example. Charlie was a bonbon of a person.
“Screw the haters. Those are the same jerkwads who are all, ‘I didn’t even want to take a bite of that apple. It’s that woman’s fault. I’m more of a lean protein guy.’ Like okay, bro. Who was your scapegoat last year?” Leaning forward, she kissed the side of his shoulder she had yet to paint. “For the record, you’re not a snake, you’re a snack.”
“A snack,” he repeated, bemused.
“Anda living breathing work of art.” She cocked her head, considering the long slope of his back and slender hips, not to mention the perfect peach of a rear end. He probably looked great in jeans. It was a little backwards that she’d mostly seen him pantsless, but Jean wasn’t going to complain.
“Does it look cool? Can I see it?”
“What, the painting? Yeah, that isn’t bad either.”
He started to move, but Jean held him in place with a hand to the back of his thigh. “Let me take a picture so you can get the full effect.” She brought him his phone, holding it to his face to unlock. “This way you don’t have to worry about me posting nudes of you all over the internet.”
His face paled. That was probably the ultimate nightmare for someone as reserved as Charlie.
“Which I would never do,” she said. “Revenge, sure. Porn, not so much.”
Standing on the mattress, she snapped a series of shots, first full-length and then close-up, so he could appreciate her detail work. He propped himself on his elbows to study the images, flicking through them so slowly Jean had to clench her fists to keep from shaking him and saying,well? Is it awesome or what?
“This is—” He broke off, staring at the screen.
“It’s a garden,” she explained. “But a jungly one, with extra snakes.”
